wo kinds of evidence, and what is to be said respecting their value.
Suppose that a man tells you that he saw a person strike another and kill him;
that is testimonial evidence of the fact of murder. But it is possible to have
circumstantial evidence of the fact of murder; that is to say, you may find
a man dying with a wound upon his head having exactly the form and character
of the wound which is made by an axe, and, with due care in taking surrounding
circumstances into account, you may conclude with the utmost certainty that
the man has been murdered; that his death is the consequence of a blow inflicted
by another man with that implement. We are very much in the habit of considering
circumstantial evidence as of less value than testimonial evidence, and it may
be that, where the circumstances are not perfectly clear and intelligible, it
is a dangerous and unsafe kind of evidence; but it must not be forgotten that,
in many cases, circumstantial is quite as conclusive as testimonial evidence,
and that,
